Pope Francis Dies at 88

 Time - Pope Francis, the reform-minded Roman Catholic leader who guided the church through an era of crisis, died Monday, April 21, a day after appearing at St. Peter’s Square to offer members of the public an Easter blessing. He was 88 years old.

“Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, said in announcement. “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of His Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”

Francis’ papacy marked a number of firsts: the first pope from the Americas; the first non-European pope; the first pope from the Southern Hemisphere; the first pope from the developing world; the first Pope to attend a G7 summit; the first Pope to visit Iraq; the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope to take the name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, who was famous for his ministry to the poor.

His papacy also reflected a first in terms of his willingness to hear out different points of view on controversial issues including marriage, sexuality, the priesthood, and celibacy in the church that his predecessors weren’t willing to debate. While none of the major church traditions were tossed out during his tenure, and at a time when the child sex abuse scandal that has plagued the church for years created a crisis of conscience particularly among young Catholics, Francis stood out for exuding a certain level of empathy, humility, and mercy that people felt connected to in a way they said they never felt with past popes. He served as the world’s conscience. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, he strongly urged President Vladimir Putin to “stop this spiral of violence and death” and avoid the “absurd” risk of nuclear war. During the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, he condemned the air strikes and called for peace, even keeping up his regular chats with a Catholic parish in Gaza while hospitalized for pneumonia. As TIME explained when it chose Pope Francis as its 2013 “Person of the Year,” he “changed the tone and perception and focus of one of the world’s largest institutions in an extraordinary way.”